When I divorced 12 years ago, I ended up in dire straits financially. After several years, I got nearly everything paid off, except for my GSL. I still owed a few hundred on it (can’t remember exact numbers) and was behind but making small monthly payments.
Then the bank holding the loan was bought by a much bigger bank. Apparently they just wrote the loan off as unpaid, because I never received any correspondence from them that I can remember, and I never made any more payments.
I’ll have to request a credit report to be sure, but I assume it made its way to my report as a defaulted school loan.
Now, the question becomes: If I decide to go back to school, will I be able to get any school loans? My credit, overall, is very poor due to slow payments. I don’t think there are any other defaults, other than a car repo (that should be gone by now, it was about the same time as the divorce) which we eventually paid off.
I don’t have any other loans, and no payments except for the house (my husband pays it) and utilities. I know I can’t get any conventional loans, but I think one school loan officer told me they don’t do a credit check for school loans?
ANY info would be great; thanks so much!
Best,
karol
Karol, my sister is currently in “default” on her student loans, and she found out (she was surprised, I don’t know why) that she could not get another one.
Upon looking at her credit report, it shows that the loan was “written off”, but I’m thinking that elephant never forgets.
Still, 12 yrs is a long time; it would cost nothing to apply, correct? I say give it a whirl.
You can check your credit report over the 'net, too.
IANAL, but if you never declared bankruptcy, the defaulted loan remains on your credit history. And I cannot believe anyone would loan you money without doing a credit check.
I expect the best chance you had to get a loan of any sort is if you took out a second mortgage on whatever equity you have in your home. And I would very, very strongly urge you to consider the seriousness of such a step. Very, very, as that is the sort of loan where default has serious consequences, and excuses will generally not suffice.
If, as you say, your credit record is one of late payments, defaulted student loans, car repossessions, and so forth, I suspect loaning you more money is not going to address your problems, even if you can find someone to do so.
Talk to a credit counselor, but I suspect you are not going to like what they have to say.
Maybe I wasn’t clear, Shodan…I don’t want a bail-out loan or a loan to address my problems–ha! I only WISH my problems could be solved with cash–I am only considering whether I would be able to obtain a school loan if I go back to school. Otherwise, NO new loans for me. I’m much happier debt-free, and I wouldn’t take out a second mortgage regardless of circumstances.
All of this information was on my record when we obtained our house loan, oddly enough. I’m sure the standards are different, but there you go…I just wondered if there was anything specific re: school loans that I might find out.
It rather irks me that I would be better off today if I had just declared bankruptcy way back when, but that’s another thread, I suppose.
Now, who to consult about such things? The school loan officer specifically told me: They don’t do credit checks when issuing school loans. This was after I explained the circumstances (at the time, my husband was considering college classes.) I have no idea; that’s just the info I got from him at the time. Seemed odd to me, too.
I worked at a University, and I most explicitly heard from one of the ladies in the financial aid department that your credit report did get pulled in the process of getting school loans.
Now, maybe that has changed since when I heard it (1999) or wasn’t true at the school bodypoet was considering (Indiana University, I’d wager…). Strange situation though, if they weren’t gonna’ run your report…
Nowadays, student loans typically persist through a bankruptcy. Individual bankruptcy judges have the option of discharging a student loan in bankruptcy, however this tends to only happen to persons in truly devastating situations.
An example of a truly devastating situation that might count would be falling prey to a complete and total disability. There may be other situations that would work.
I believe that prior to a certain legislative change, student loans were dischargable in bankruptcy. For some reason the year 1997 is popping into mind for that, but I am not at all certain that that date is correct.
But you are not debt-free, bodypart – you have simply decided not to bother paying off a debt that you owe.
And since most student loans are Federally guaranteed, the government has paid the bank for the guaranteed portion of the loan, and the bank probably wrote the rest of the loss off on it’s taxes.
So the rest of us taxpayers have pretty much paid for your debt, which you can’t be bothered to repay.
There are various names commonly used for people who do things like this, but I won’t post them on this forum.
Well, that’s real big of you, t-bonham, for not being judgemental and all, especially since you don’t know anything about my circumstances.
I haven’t said I don’t intend to pay for it; in fact, that seems to be the next step, doesn’t it? I’m not entirely sure who to even contact, as the previous person I worked with at that bank is no longer there, and the bank was bought years and years ago. What do you bet it’ll be a pia to track down how much I owe and to whom I need to pay it?
Frankly, I haven’t really even thought about it for ages, because it happened back in the dark old days when a lot of problems didn’t get solved. Things have changed rather dramatically in my life over the last few months, and this is the time that I am working on resolving old issues. Not that you need to know that, because your judgement is clearly already formed.
And never fear; I’ve paid my share in taxes just like you have. You have no business judging me here or anywhere else, but thanks for the effort. When you know something about my life, my work, my finances, and my circumstances, then we’ll talk, 'kay?
If you didn’t pay off your school loan, you defaulted and should be getting letters to that effect. Eventually they may turn it over to someone to get collection from you.
If you pay it off, you can get another loan. Credit reports don’t matter; that’s why it is called a “Guaranteed” student loan. The only thing stopping you from getting another loan is an unpaid balance on a previous student loan. I am 100% sure of this, unless the rules have changed in the past few years. You should call the Guaranteed Student loan folks in your state to find out the status of your loan.
Thanks, Rusalka. I haven’t received any letters at all.
It occurred to me this morning–doesn’t collection on student loans sometimes come out of tax returns? If so, it could be that the sucker was paid off some time ago and I just didn’t keep a record of it.
They definitely know where I live, etc…so the fact that I haven’t received any correspondence about it makes me wonder.
I’ll follow up on the link you sent me and see what I can find out. Whether I go back to school or not, I should be able to get it paid off this year.
I had some kind of grants or something in the 70s…i got another loan in the 90s…i don’t think that they even have records that far back. did you find any record of it on your credit report?
I’m not sure about my credit report; I need to request one to find out what’s on it. It wasn’t on there when we bought the house, but I believe I was still making payments at the time.
I applied for a PIN so that I can do a search to find out what loans I may still have outstanding or have defaulted on.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it may have come out of my taxes at some point…I keep lousy records.
But I’ll know soon! Then I’ll make arrangements to pay it off and go from there, school-wise.